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Longboat to install new valves to mitigate north end tidal flooding

But as a resident of The Village on Longboat Key’s north end for 45 years, it’s not that easy. He and his neighbors sometimes have to park at the edge of their neighborhood just to keep their cars safe from gulf water that fills the streets at least a few times a year.

He said he’s seen children riding kayaks in the roads and a tiki mask floating on his deck. Big trucks sometimes drive through the water and cause a wake that can be damaging to homes.

“Flooding is part of living in the village area,” Christensen said. “It’s not something like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m living in the village, and now it’s flooding.’"

And this flooding can happen on days without rain. Unusually high gulf levels flood the low-lying streets with water through stormwater pipes, bubbling out of drains meant to divert rainwater into Sarasota Bay.

These higher-than-usual “spring tides” — which have nothing to do with the season — occur most often during a full or new moon.

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